Broken
by k.onceuponatime
Summary: The three Johnson girls miraculously return after being kidnapped, but they are not the same.  They are afraid of men, and Hayden Middleton is determined to find out why, but doing so without losing his heart to the oldest Johnson proves difficult.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Hayden Middleton crouched down lower in the grass, keeping his eyes as level with the blades as he could manage as he carefully watched the commotion occurring in the once abandoned cottage everyone had labeled as the old Melbourne place.

The Melbourne home had been abandoned ever since its previous owner, Gregory Melbourne, had died of a heart attack. No one had realized he was dead until that next Sunday when Pastor James had stopped by to give old Melbourne some dinner for the night, which was something he did every Sunday, whether Melbourne went to church or not. Melbourne had been widowed for six years before that day he died, which was why Pastor James and his wife Elinore thought it would be nice to provide him with a meal once a week. Pastor James knocked on his door for ten minutes before he decided to go inside and check on the old man, just to make sure he wasn't bedridden. Pastor James never spoke of it, but many whispered that he had found Melbourne sitting in his armchair with the television set on, positioned as if he had simply fallen asleep.

From that day on, the old Melbourne place had remained a vacant cottage on the hill, overlooking the meadows and trees that stretched on for miles around. The Melbourne's had liked the seclusion, and had enjoyed the peace that had come from it. For years that house had sat on that hill, empty and foreboding. Well, at least until now.

The edifice was to the Melbourne's taste; humble and modest in every way. From the red shingled roof, more slanted on the right than on the left, to the white wooden frame that had faded over time, it certainly was never really built to attract attention. Hayden himself had never seen the inside of the edifice, but he had heard once or twice that the two story structure was simple to a tee, with minimal bedrooms and bathrooms and a decently sized kitchen. Everything about the Melbourne's had been simple, which was why their house had been abandoned for so long; everyone that entered it could feel that it belonged only to certain people, and could never really belong to anyone else.

Well, at least people with sense had felt that strange sensation that they didn't belong. And perhaps the new tenants had felt it too. If they had, then they had ignored the feeling, because there they stood on top of that hill near the house, carrying box after box into the house and calling out random orders to each other. Hayden's mother had said, when he had asked why they hadn't sensed that bizarre feeling when they had entered the house that they could never belong like everyone else had felt, that it was probably because they were American.

That was another puzzling piece that young Hayden was hoping to understand by spying on them. Why would a family of American's want to move out here to England? And not to London, the heart of England and the big city, but the countryside? What was so appealing to these American's out here, anyway?

Hayden settled down into the grass, carefully watching to make sure that he wasn't noticed while he observed. He wasn't exactly sure who the members of the family were, but he could guess. The older female was probably the mother. She was wearing jeans that had multicolored paint stains in various locations; white, blue, red, yellow, green, pink…they were almost everywhere, some being splotches and others splatters. Covering her torso was a light pink button up shirt, with a white tank top beneath since she wore the buttons open. She looked pleasant and carefree, her vivid auburn curls thrown into a ponytail and her warm chocolate eyes drinking in everything around her.

Running in and out of the Melbourne house were three young girls.

The one that looked like the youngest couldn't have been more than four or five years old. She was unstable on her feet as she chased after the other girls, occasionally getting distracted by something nearby but mostly eager to keep up with her sisters. She had short, honey blonde hair that was combed into pigtails, bouncing with her running body. Pale blue eyes gazed at the world around her with wonder and curiosity, as if they could never absorb enough. She looked particularly adorable in a small pink princess dress, though she had long dispensed of her tiara.

The one that looked next in line looked like she was eight or nine, with a wild disarray of curls to match her mothers. Her hair, however, was the same honey blonde as the youngest girl, but with a noticeable dark tint to it. She was all limbs and height, but she seemed capable and sporty on those limbs. She was the fastest runner of the three, and by far the most energetic. Her eyes, also a pale blue, sparked with life and an uncontainable energy that longed to burst out of her, and as she weaved through the boxes and moving bodies, she squealed and giggled with delight.

For all of her energy and athleticism, however, she was no match for the eldest girls charm, determination, and leadership. The eldest looked to be roughly Hayden's age; about twelve, possibly older or younger by a year or two. Her hair wasn't curled like her two sisters and mother, but was actually straight. The tone of her hair was a combination of her mother's and her sister's, creating a very light, delicate brown. But she had without a doubt her mother's warm brown eyes, large and sweet and gentle. The girl herself, however, didn't appear gentle. Her build wasn't made for athletics, but it was made for grace and beauty. Already her breasts were showing a sign of swelling. Her legs were firm and long, allowing her to run as if she commanded the world. Everything about her simply seemed to lead, but there was that undeniable sense that she was still very sweet.

Hayden didn't know who the father might be. There were five men there, two of them which could not possibly be the father, but of the three that were left Hayden couldn't really guess. All five men were unloading boxes from a massive truck and moving it into the house. None of them made any inclination that they were the father, and the mother never treated any of them as if they were her husband.

"Hayden!"

The call came from a distance, and the busy figures didn't hear it, but Hayden had heard it as he was being attentive to everything. Before the call could get any closer, he crouched low and began making his way over the hills to where his mother was looking for him.

"There you are," she huffed as he came racing towards her. She placed her hands on her hips and looked down at her son, an inevitable smile pulling on her lips. "Where were you then, hmm? Off spying on our new neighbors?"

"I was interested," Hayden admitted. "Did you know that there are only three little girls and no little boys? I shall have no one to play with!"

"Well, maybe those three little girls will be just as fun, dear. Come on then. Supper is ready."

She threw her arm around his neck and led him towards their own little cottage. It was only a few hills away from the old Melbourne place, and he could still see the structure from the windows and the people, but it wasn't close enough to see exactly what they were doing, and he certainly couldn't hear what they were saying anymore. Hayden would have loved to sit at the window and watched to see when they would finish unloading everything, but his mother had a different idea in mind.

"Come on then, let's get you washed up."

He begrudgingly allowed her to scrub at his face and hands, glancing in the mirror at his now reddened face. His black hair was starting to grow out again, falling onto his forehead, which was something his mother despised, but for some reason she didn't comment on its length as she usually did. Hayden had a feeling that the longer length was beginning to fit his new frame better, as he was growing taller and more angular. His once boyish face now appeared slightly more dignified due to his more prominent cheekbones, a finely curved nose set in between dark blue eyes, and a strong chin.

"Now then," Mrs. Middleton said as she and her son joined her husband at the table, "what can you tell us about our new neighbors."

Mr. Middleton glanced up from his newspaper and murmured something unintelligible before returning to the print with exaggerated earnest, his balding head disappearing behind the long pages. Mrs. Middleton put a hand to her lips to stifle a laugh, turning her blue eyes on her son as she scooped him a large helping of mashed potatoes.

"Well, the youngest daughter is little more than a baby," Hayden sighed. "I don't think she'll be much fun to play with, but the middle one looked like she might enjoy playing some football with me. She was really a good runner, and I bet if I could get a ball she would play with me. The older one looked too girly to play football with us, though, so I wouldn't ask her to play."

"Oh, Hayden, really!" Mrs. Middleton giggled. "And what of their mother?"

"She seemed like a very nice lady. She had on some strange pants, though. They were all full of paint."

"How intriguing. Well, she must do things quite differently from us, but we shall get used to it. Did you know that her husband just died?"

"No."

"Well, yes, he did, just three months ago. That's a part of the reason she moved out here. He was from England, you see, and so Mrs. Johnson, our new neighbor, that is, wanted to live here in memory of her late husband. She also is a painter, I have heard, and thought that England would inspire her in some new scenes for her work."

Hayden scooped up some mashed potatoes into his mouth, thinking about everything his mother had said.

"As long as she doesn't cause us any problems," Mr. Middleton grunted, "then I have no problem with her living there. I hope she is not expecting charity from us."

"Really, George!" Mrs. Middleton admonished.

"Well, you must realize that as a single parent who has just moved from America to England, which, may I remind you, is no small amount of money, her position is rather uncertain at the moment. Whether or not she will last out the month is in question, let alone the year she had intended to stay."

"I think that Karen will do splendidly on her own," Mrs. Middleton chided frankly. "From what I have heard, she is a strong, independent woman who is very capable. In fact, I think that we should visit her tomorrow. It will allow Hayden to become acquainted with her three girls, and allow us to become better acquainted with Karen herself before we so rashly judge her."

"I do not intend on going," Mr. Middleton sniffed, going back to his paper.

"George, you must be polite! What sort of example are you setting for your son?"

"The kind that he should do well to follow."

Despite Mr. Middleton's aversion to the idea, however, he was striding along with his wife and son towards the old Melbourne place, occasionally grumbling under his breath and glancing angrily at the plate of cookies that Mrs. Middleton was carrying in her hands. Climbing the hill and then the front porch, Mrs. Middleton knocked lightly on the faded oak door and then stepped back, smoothing back her dark brown hair and smiling widely. After a few moments, the door was opened by the same woman that Hayden had observed to be the mother the previous day. She had the same paint filled jeans on, but had changed into a baggy white t-shirt with wholes and paint splatters as well.

"Hello," Mrs. Middleton said pleasantly. "I'm Susan Middleton, this is my husband George, and our son Hayden. We're your neighbors…or at least the closest you will have to neighbors."

"Oh, hi!" the woman said in a very obvious American accent. Her voice, however, was also very lively and energetic. "I'm Karen Johnson. Yeah, a couple of people in town were telling me that I'd be living near you! Thanks so much for stopping by! Would you like to come in? Its messy since we're unpacking-"

"Oh, no, we would hate to impose," Mr. Middleton insisted, hoping to escape more quickly.

"Nonsense, I could use a break!" Karen Johnson said with a buoyant laugh. "Come on in."

They followed her inside the house, and Hayden looked around with vivid curiosity. For being such a widely talked about house and for being considered haunted, it was very cozy and normal inside, save for the plethora of boxes all throughout the house. Karen kicked a few out of the way here and there when they obscured their path, but didn't pay much attention to them, heading straight for the kitchen.

"I got the kitchen done first just so we'd be able to sit down and have a meal in all this chaos," she called over her shoulder. "We can sit and chat in there."

The kitchen was impeccably organized and clean. Compared to the rest of the house, it was perfect. Set in the center was a small table that could seat four people. The rest of the kitchen was bare, save for a few pots and pans and dishes that didn't fit in the cabinets. Karen sat down in one of the chairs and motioned for Susan and George to do the same. Susan smiled and handed Karen the plate of cookies before she sat down.

"Hayden was telling me that you have three daughters," she said after a moment of silence in which Karen had been inspecting the cookies.

"Oh, yeah, my three little princesses," Karen laughed. "Yeah, they're out running around, getting to know the place. I'm sure you want to meet them. Hey, little boy, Hayden, you want to go out and find them for me?"

Hayden glanced at his parents, shrinking into his chair nervously. Susan smiled encouragingly, so Hayden got up.

"They went that way, I think," Karen said, pointing in the general direction she thought they had run off to. "Just tell them that I said they need to back home now."

Hayden nodded and went out through the back door. There was no backyard, because they had the whole meadow to themselves. Hayden walked through the tall grass, searching through the trees and grass for any sign of the girls. It wasn't long before he could hear their squeals of delight. He followed the sound into the woods surrounding the meadows to one of his favorite locations; the stream. He had often come to play at the stream as a younger boy, and occasionally visited when he could think of nothing better to do, but even if he didn't frequent the location anymore it still angered him a little to think that these _girls_ were going to take it from him.

Sure enough, the girls were running across the stream and splashing each other, screaming and laughing as they played in the ice cold water. Hayden suddenly felt very shy; he had never really talked to girls before, and didn't know if it was any different from talking with boys. He was intrigued, however, by their game and how they played together. Interested, he climbed into the closest tree and leaned forward to watch. The leaves kept him hidden in shadow, and he relaxed against the trunk and watched as the girls continued to splash each other. After some time, they grew tired of the game, and they began to explore some of the areas around the stream, never wandering far in case they would get lost.

"Alice, there's a boy in the tree!" the athletic girl screamed.

Hayden hadn't noticed her coming closer to his hiding place, having had his attention on the eldest girl as she ran her fingers through the stream, humming quietly to herself. Hearing the scream, the older girl looked up and raced over to the tree, looking up as well.

"There really is a boy," she remarked.

Both had the same American accent that their mother had. The older girl, Alice, seemed only curious about the small boy in the tree, but the middle daughter still was nervous.

"Go away, little boy!" she screamed, picking up a rock and throwing it at him.

"Brooke, that's not very nice!" Alice snapped, catching her arm before she could toss another. She returned her attention to Hayden. "Hi, little boy. Do you want to come and play with us?"

Hayden quickly shook his head. By now, the youngest Johnson had seen that all the interest was in his particular tree, and she came stumbling over, looking eagerly into the branches to see what it was that was so interesting. Although she probably didn't understand what was going on, she still looked at the boy in the branches as if it was as interesting as her sisters thought it was.

"What's wrong?" Alice asked, smiling. "Are you afraid? I won't hurt you. Brooke might, but I won't. I'm Alice. What's your name?"

Hayden only cringed further out of sight, refusing to reply. Alice frowned, wondering what could possibly be wrong with the boy, but her attempts to lure him into playing were interrupted by their mother's voice.

"Alice! Brooke! Carrie! Time to come inside!"

Groaning, Brooke grabbed little Carrie's hand and pulled her in the direction of the old Melbourne place. Alice looked up at Hayden.

"Well, see you around little boy!" she called, waving.

Hayden waited until he could no longer see her before climbing down out of the tree. Then, he ran back towards the Melbourne place, wondering what Alice and the other girls would say about him being there. He entered through the back, just as introductions were completed between the girls and his parents.

"There you are, Hayden!" Susan called, waving him over. "Come and meet Mrs. Johnson's daughters."

Hayden walked hesitantly to his mother's side. Alice, recognizing him, winked and waved. Brooke didn't seem to connect his face with the boy from the tree, and smiled just as readily as Alice did. Carrie was busy chomping a piece of chocolate chip cookie.

"Hayden, this is Alice, Brooke, and Carrie," Karen introduced. "Girls, this is Hayden. Hayden's twelve, and he lives very close to us. I want you to be very nice to him."

"Do you want to go play, Hayden?" Alice asked brightly.

Before he could respond, she caught his arm and pulled him outside and the way that they had come. Brooke and Carrie followed, Carrie still finishing off her cookie. Alice stopped at the edge of the stream, looking Hayden over.

"You don't talk a whole lot," she commented. "Oh well. What do you want to play?"

Hayden shrugged off her hand and shrugged his shoulders.

"If its alright with you, I just want to watch you play," he admitted.

Carried giggled and said, "He talks funny too!"

"Why won't you play with us?" Brooke demanded. "Is it 'cause we're girls and we got cooties?"

Carrie giggled and began running around, yelling cooties at the top of her lungs. Hayden backed away a step, shaking his head.

"No, I just like to watch things."

"You can watch if you want," Alice said with another smile. "We want to play princesses anyway. In fact, you can watch us play every day if you want to!"

And that was how it went for the rest of the week. Hayden would ask permission to play, and then would run to the stream, only to climb into his tree and watch the three Johnson girls play their games. Some days they played princesses, other days they played cops and robbers, and then sometimes they simply splashed each other with the cold stream water. Always, Alice would come over to the tree and ask if Hayden wanted to join them that day, and always Hayden would say he would prefer to watch. Alice would shrug and run off and play, but she would occasionally direct her conversation to Hayden, letting him know that she hadn't forgotten about him.

When a week had passed and another began, Hayden intended to play. He had seen enough of their games to realize that they weren't all as girly as he had first thought they would be. Now assured that they played entertaining games, he wanted to be a part of their fun. After receiving permission to play, he raced for the stream, his heart pumping in excitement.

Alice and the girls were already at the stream. Today, they were happy to splash each other, screaming and complaining because it was so cold but still only too happy to get the other wet. Hayden climbed into his tree to wait for Alice to invite him to play with them, hopping up and down on his usual branch impatiently. She never had the chance to ask.

Three large men stepped out of the woods and picked up one girl for each person, cupping their hands over their mouths to muffle their screams before hurrying further into the trees away from their house. Hayden watched in horror, and then reacted on impulse; he climbed down from the tree and raced after them.

He caught up to the nearest one, the one holding Alice, and began pounding his small fists against the man's back. The man turned, giving Hayden a clear view of his face for a brief moment. Then, his fist came down hard on Hayden's head, and Hayden crumpled to the ground, his vision going black. The last thing he remembered hearing before going unconscious were three girls screaming.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_Six years later…_

The fire crackled cheerfully in the fireplace as Hayden added more wood to the hungry flames. After poking the wood around for a bit so that the wood would burn easier, he stood and turned to face Karen Johnson.

She was seated in her chair right next to the fire, running her forefinger along her upper lip absently as she stared at the flames. She had changed in the last six years, having developed several more lines between her brows. Her hair now had several tints of silver, even though she wasn't that much older, and she had lost a lot of weight. It was all due to the events of the last six years, beginning with the kidnapping of her three daughters.

"Can I do anything else, Mrs. Johnson?" Hayden asked quietly.

"No, thank you," she sighed.

Hayden nodded and moved to leave, but Karen lifted her head and caught his arm.

"Hayden, why do you still come?" she asked, looking intently into his face. "I'm a hopeless, disheveled old woman now, who is still upset over the loss of her daughters. Why are you still coming everyday and helping me?"

"Because I am young and am therefore useful," he teased.

"What I'm trying to say is, do you still feel responsible for what happened to my girls?"

Hayden's smile disappeared. Yes, he did still feel guilty. He felt that he should have been able to do so much more, and that he could have somehow stopped the men from kidnapping the girls. He felt that he should have at least remembered what that one man had looked like, but his memory was very blurred of that day due to the man hitting him on the head. All he could remember now was shadows and screams, something that had haunted his nightmares for the past six years.

For six years the police had looked in vain for those girls. For six years Karen had held onto the hope that they were alive, only to recently accept that there was very little possibility that they had lived and were most likely dead. Six years had changed her…and Hayden as well.

He no longer was a gangly boy, all limbs and length. Now his body had adapted to his length, and he had filled it out with hard, greatly defined muscles. His face was nicely angled now, and his hair was the length that he chose and maintained; he personally liked it to be of a medium length that splayed across his forehead. His skin wasn't dark, but it wasn't pale either, as he spent most of his time outdoors. All in all, he had grown into a handsome young man with equally amiable characteristics.

"Hayden, no one can blame you," Karen said gently. "You had no power to stop them anymore than I did."

"I should have at least been able to remember his face," Hayden sighed, shaking his head. "But that day is just a blur. All I see are shadows, and then I hear all this screaming."

They became silent. _Neither_ of them enjoyed reliving that day.

"We were going to have six children," Karen suddenly said, a faint smile on her lips as she turned her attention to the lively flames. "Danny and me. I wanted three boys and three girls, but Danny was ok with whatever happened. We had planned for a long time on going down the alphabet, A to F. When little Alice, Brooke, and Carrie were born, you have no idea how perfect I thought my life was. Three little girls, and all I needed were the three little boys…if we were lucky, that is. Then Danny got cancer."

Hayden's smile disappeared when Karen's did as she began to relive more of her painful memories. Her eyes remained intent on the fire, because she was attempting to hide her tears, but Hayden saw them anyway.

"It was inevitable," he said softly. "You couldn't have helped it."

"My point exactly," she said with a nervous laugh. "I couldn't help Danny getting cancer, and you couldn't help Alice, Brooke, and Carrie getting kidnapped. But I still wonder if it would have been easier to bear if I had had six children…if it would be easier to move on with my life if I still had three here with me."

"Probably not. You'd be reminded of the three you lost perpetually, knowing you."

She nodded, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose. Hayden didn't like how old she was starting to look when she really wasn't so old. She was only thirty-nine, and it was true that this wasn't exactly youth, but it certainly did not make her old at all. She still had another good thirty or so years at the very least. What made her seem old now was the fact that the once vibrant and lively woman had practically given up on life, and now sat idle in her chair almost all day every day. She lacked the will to move, to eat, to sleep…to _live_. The thirty-nine year old woman didn't look that age…in fact, sitting there in her chair, she looked like she was forty-five.

"You should get home, Hayden," Karen sighed, opening her eyes. "Susan might like that you're lending me a hand, but George thinks I'm a helpless charity case and doesn't like it."

"No, Dad just was hoping you wouldn't last a month, much less a year," Hayden laughed. "And you've been here for six."

"Oh, really? Well, I'm planning on dying here, so I guess I'll have to upset him for another forty or so years!"

Laughing, Karen led him out of the house and waved to him as he walked the very familiar and now trodden path through the meadows and hills back to his house. She watched his figure go, smiling to herself. He had grown into such a handsome young man. What had her daughters looked like when they were older…if they had lived to become older?

Sitting in a chair on her porch, Karen closed her eyes and tried to fight off the pain that often visited her now. How she missed Alice, Brooke, and Carrie. How that day they had been kidnapped haunted her just as it haunted poor Hayden. She could still remember how Hayden had come running into the house, blood dripping from his scalp, cross eyed and saying things that didn't make sense. All he could manage that was intelligible was girls and screaming.

When she finally had understood something was wrong with her daughters and had called the police, it was too late. They had disappeared without much of a trace. The police were ready to give up the search within a month, but Karen was persistent, and so was little Hayden, sometimes searching the woods himself. It was a relief when his brain wasn't permanently affected by the blow he had received to his head, both to his parents and Karen herself.

The police had given up a year later, saying there was absolutely no chance that the girls had survived, and that if they had there was no way they would be able to find them. They would not go beyond a year. Karen was forced to investigate as much as she could, but even she had to give up the search half a year later. She hadn't given up hope, though…not until recently. Now, sitting on the porch in her chair, coping with the reality that her daughters were dead and that she was alone in the world, it all came crashing down on her. She began to sob.

After a while, when it was beginning to grow dark, Karen forced herself to stand up to go back inside and eat something. She usually forgot that she still needed food to survive sometimes, which was why Hayden persisted in coming to see her everyday. He, unlike everyone else, didn't mock her for being an American living in the superstitious old Melbourne place, and he also knew that she needed company to keep her sane. He was a very dear friend to her now, and she was so glad that he had grown up to be so polite and respectable.

Karen's gaze was drawn automatically towards the distant trees and meadows. She often looked that way, out of habit now, but she used to imagine that her daughters would come running out of there, with their arms wide open and calling out to her. Usually, she was disappointed. But today, she froze as she saw movement within the trees.

Three figures disengaged themselves from the shadows within the woods, and continued stumbling through the meadows in the direction of the house. Three females, all three exhausted, worn, and badly beaten. Three females, who, though different in so many ways, still had a strange resemblance to her and her husband. She clutched the porch railing, her entire body trembling. Was it a mirage? Was it her imagination? Or could it, just maybe, be real?

"Mom!"

The voice was older and more mature, but it still was vaguely familiar. It was then that Karen raced down the porch and across the fields, sobbing openly as she ran to those three figures crossing the meadow. She caught the first girl and kissed her several times, embracing her tightly and sobbing unintelligible words. Exhausted, the three females fell in a heap on the ground while their mother embraced them and kissed them, sobbing helplessly as she thanked God over and over again.

"Is it really?" she gasped when she had calmed some. "Is it really you?"

One got onto her knees and smiled, tears in her eyes.

"It's us, mother," she whispered. "Alice, Brooke, and Cassie. We're home!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Hayden hadn't even made it three quarters of the way to Karen's house when she burst from her house and waved to him energetically, calling, "Come and see! Come and see!"

Hayden didn't know whether or not he should be worried or anxious, so he ran the rest of the way, hurrying into the house and looking around to see if everything was in order. To his utter astonishment, he saw three females sitting in the living room with Karen. All three had their eyes turned to him, and all three were cringing perceptibly away from him. Hayden looked up at Karen, frowning.

"Hayden, they're back!" she cried, standing and pulling him into the living room. "Alice, Brooke, and Cassie! They're back!"

Hayden's frown deepened, and he examined them more carefully. The obviously younger one was sitting in the middle. She had blonde hair and pale blue eyes, that was true, but that didn't mean anything, as far as he was concerned. There were plenty of blonde-haired blue-eyed girls out there. He examined her face carefully, searching for any traces of Cassie, but she had been so young then, and it had been so long ago that it was hard to tell.

The second oldest was on the left of the supposed Cassie, and she two had curly blonde hair and blue eyes. It was a little easier to see Brooke's features, like her nose and natural athletic frame, but it still didn't prove very much.

He turned to the girl to the right of Cassie…their supposed Alice. She flinched from his gaze and avoided looking at him directly, her fingers twitching. He had always remembered her to be more cheerful, and by far more welcoming, but she seemed afraid of him. They all did. He looked carefully into her face. Warm, chocolate eyes, light brown hair, and a smoothly angled nose…but that didn't prove anything.

"How can you be sure, Mrs. Johnson?" Hayden asked after a moment.

"A mother knows her daughters anywhere," Karen said with a teary smile.

"I should feel better if they could perhaps prove it."

"Skeptical! And here I thought you'd be the only one that would believe me without all the fuss! Alright then. Alice dear, can you tell something to Hayden to prove your Alice?"

The supposed Alice cringed into the sofa, her lower lip trembling. Hayden felt somewhat guilty for being skeptical, but poor Karen had been fooled enough. He knew very well how desperately people tended to act when there was a reward involved. Sitting down in a hard backed chair near the empty fireplace, he watched and waited, still trying to find traces of Alice in the face.

"I…I don't know what to say," she whispered, looking uncertainly to her sisters; she had retained her American accent, and no doubt her sisters had as well.

Karen, frowning, said, "Well, you didn't have a problem talking your heart out just moments before. What's wrong now?"

She didn't respond, only looked more uncomfortable.

"Where did you used to play as children?" Hayden finally asked gently, feeling pity for her frightened and haunted look. "Before you were taken, of course."

"T-the stream," she answered with obvious difficulty, pointedly refusing to look him in the eye. "We would go there every day to play by the cold water. And there was always a boy in the tree, but he never wanted to play, he only wanted to watch."

"The boy's name," Hayden asked, feeling his heart race. "Can you recall the boy's name?"

"It's been so long. I…I can't remember. It started with an H, but I can't remember it. I used to think about that boy a lot, and promised that if I ever saw him again I would thank him and give him a kiss."

"Why?"

"He tried to save me…and my sisters. He tried to help us, but then he got hurt. I always wondered if he was ok, and I always wanted to thank him for trying."

Hayden stood up slowly and came to kneel in front of her. Her eyes came to his, full of panic by the sudden proximity. He ignored her fear and brushed her long, light brown hair away from her face and touched her cheek.

He drew up the memory of the child and compared it again to this woman. Gone was the girl, and in its place now sat a woman. Her delicate, light brown hair was long, falling down her back all the way to her waist; it had once simply been to her shoulders. Where breasts had only been _starting_ to fill out now had filled out completely, creating an extremely noticeable swell in the clothes she had on. She was tall, lean, and graceful…and most of all undeniably beautiful in almost everyway. Her skin was soft and pale, giving her an innocent damsel and distress appeal. Her brown eyes weren't nearly as large anymore, but they were still warm, gentle, and full of life. Hayden's heart fluttered over how beautiful she had become.

"Hello, Alice," he said softly.

Alice screamed, slapped him, and began backing away, clinging to Cassie for dear life. Hayden backed away, touching his scarlet cheek and staring at her with wide, surprised eyes. Karen jumped to her feet and held Alice close, trying to calm her daughter.

"Alice, Alice, please! Shh! It's Hayden, sweetheart!"

"Don't let him touch me!" Alice sobbed into her mothers shoulder. "Don't let him touch me again!"

Hayden stood slowly, giving Karen quizzical look. Karen shrugged, looking lost, before letting go of Alice and holding her face in her hands.

"Listen," she said softly as Alice calmed down some. "This is Hayden. Hayden is the little boy in the trees that tried to save you."

Her frenzy calmed as she looked at Hayden. She didn't look anymore comfortable, but at least she had stopped screaming. Hayden messaged his cheek as he went back to his seat by the fireplace, examining the other two sisters now that he knew that they were the real girls.

Cassie had changed tremendously. She was no longer a pudgy little five year old child, curious about the world around her, but a tall, slightly more sophisticated eleven year old girl who seemed _afraid_ of that same world. The pudginess had disappeared, leaving her body thin so that she was all skin and bones. The long, honey blonde locks hadn't lost their wild, curly nature, and her hair hung at her shoulders, though it didn't look like it would grow any longer than that. Her pale blue eyes darted in every direction nervously, as if she still felt that she wasn't safe anymore, and her back was rigid.

Brooke hadn't lost her athletic figure. Her muscles still looked made for running and moving, and her pale blue eyes were still filled with that energetic fire that seemed to drive her. Her honey blonde curls had reached the same length as Alice's, though the length seemed to bother her as she was constantly pushing her hair back over her firm shoulders. Her breasts hadn't filled out as much as Alice's had; in fact, she was more flat-chested, but that was why she seemed more adept in sports and exercising. Looking over her frame, he noted how tall she had grown as well, something he should have expected given the length of their mother, each sinew of her body advertising a certain grace and strength. She was beautiful in her own way, but her palpable aura of fear didn't help Hayden feel comfortable talking with her or any of her sisters, as they carried it as well, Alice more than the others.

"I'll call Susan and George over while you and the girls get used to each other again," Karen announced when the silence became too unbearable. "I'll be back in a moment."

Hayden didn't miss the panic in the three girl's eyes as their mother left them alone in a room with him, but he pretended to ignore it. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say; he hadn't grown up with many other girls in his life, and these girls had faced more than he could even imagine.

"So how old are you three now?" he asked pleasantly. "I remember your mum mentioning that Alice was eleven last time we knew each other, and Brooke was eight, and Carrie was five."

None of them responded, sitting stone still and carefully avoiding his eyes. Hayden nodded awkwardly, biting his lower lip.

"Ok, then I'll just guess. Let's see, it's been a little _more_ than six years…about half a year more, but I think that Carrie's eleven. Is that right?" Carrie looked at her sisters before nodding her head. "Hmm, lucky guess. Brooke, are you…fifteen?" Brooke nodded curtly, her hand becoming a fist. "So that means that your birthday passed fairly recently. Now, Alice. Are you seventeen? Eighteen?"

"Eighteen in a month," she whispered, cringing into the cushion as she spoke.

"Is that so. Well, I won't be so rude as to ask what happened to you these past six years." All three flinched in unison. Hayden held up his hands, smiling as he said, "Really, it's not any of my business. I only want you to know that if there is anything you need, do not hesitate to ask me for it. Even if it's a friend who will listen and help you, I would be glad to help in any way I can…to make up for not being able to save any of you that day."

"You don't owe us anything," Brooke murmured, looking up and into his face, the first one to make any eye contact with him at all by her own will. "You tried, and we couldn't have asked for anything more."

"I tried but I failed. To me, that's not good enough."

"I remember you being a lot quieter," Cassie remarked.

Hayden laughed, stood and said, "Just shy. I've grown out of it for the most part. Anyway, I'm glad that your back. Karen…your mum…she wasn't the same without you. I have to admit that I missed being able to watch you from that tree, too. I'm a little old for that now, obviously, but if that's what you would wish, then I will do exactly that in a heartbeat."

"Why are you being so nice to us?" Brooke demanded, again looking him directly in the eye.

Hayden only laughed, though it was strained, and went to the door to wait for his parents. He watched at the window to wait until they were close enough for him to be able to go out and greet them before heading off to do his chores. It wasn't until he felt an odd sensation at the back of his neck that he realized that someone was standing behind him, watching him. He turned to see Alice. She had been staring at him until he turned, at which time she quickly lowered her eyes and took a few steps backward.

"Sorry for hitting you," she whispered. "And thank you for trying to save us. I always intended to give you a kiss, but that…that…"

"A smile will suffice, miss," he replied gently, smiling at her. "And it would be much appreciated if you could look at me, though you don't necessarily have to."

For a moment, she didn't move, her body still and immobile. Then, in a movement full of determination and pure willpower, she lifted her head, looked him directly in the eye, and smiled. She looked even more beautiful when the fear was gone from her features when she smiled like that, and he couldn't help but smile back.

"Thank you, miss."

He glanced out the window and caught sight of his mother coming up the path; of course, his father was absent from her side. Even though it was old fashioned and completely unnecessary, he bowed his head to Alice before he slipped out the door. As he walked towards his mother, Alice Johnson weighed heavily on his mind. What had happened to her and her sisters that had made them so afraid of everything? What could he possibly ever do to help them?

Alice stroked Cassie's hair, humming absently to herself while Susan Middleton and her mother talked downstairs, Susan having returned sometime the next morning to talk some more about what they would do now that Alice and her sisters were back. She couldn't hear exactly what they were talking about, but she felt at ease to simply hear their calm, female voices. For the first time in so long, she felt safe, and she was finally free of a gnawing fear that had accompanied her for the past horrible six years of her life. Brooke was fast asleep on the floor, having been too nervous and afraid to go back to her own room; it was a habit to sleep all together, huddled close for warmth and protection. Alice herself had awoken with the first light of dawn despite her exhaustion; there were too many things on her mind for her to sleep any longer.

Lifting her youngest sister's head from her lap and laying it on the pillow, Alice decided to see how much the countryside had changed in the last six years and to refresh her memory of the hills, meadows, and woods. She quietly descended the stairs and slipped out the back door.

The woods were as solemn and quiet as she remembered, holding the promise of peace and mystery for curious minds; they didn't hold the awe they once had for Alice, after what had happened in there six years ago. The meadows were now full of brown blades instead of the effervescent green ones that had filled her dreams all those cold, bitter nights as they gave into the fall chill, but they were still beautiful. She turned, and frowned.

She didn't remember there being a small building halfway between her house and the house on a hill in the distance. The building was unimpressive, square, and bright red, so it wasn't hard to miss, and yet she had not noticed it until now. Despite her better judgment, she walked towards the structure, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Alice opened one of the double doors and walked inside, looking around her. It was a sort of stable, though it wasn't very large, with bales of hay stacked in one corner and then six stalls running along the remaining walls. Four of the stalls had horses kept inside; two russets, one white, and one black. Alice gasped in awe and approached them, smiling absently to herself at the magnificent creatures. She went to the white one first, drawn in by its elegant grace and majestic beauty. She reached over and stroked its almost silk muzzle. The horse snorted, but allowed the contact.

"That's funny," a voice said from behind her, obviously with the now familiar English accent. "Alice doesn't usually act so calmly with strangers."

Alice turned to see Hayden striding into the stables, carrying a stack of hay. He set the bale in the corner with the rest and cleaned his hands on the back of his jeans, watching the horse carefully. As he approached her and the horse, Alice blushed and quickly turned her gaze from him, hiding her eyes and feeling the familiar tremors begin to rack her body. In her head, flashes played before her eyes. Hayden had nothing to do with them…but he was a male…and so it instigated those dark memories of hands grasping her wrists, almost cutting off her circulation; an uncomfortable, unbearable weight; a stench that made her want to gag; cold, hard fingers touching…

"Took me almost a month to be able to come as close as you are to her now," Hayden continued, oblivious to Alice's inward turmoil, "but even then touching her was out of the question. You must have something about you that she can trust…or perhaps she can sense her namesake when she sees her."

Alice's curiosity would not allow her to be quiet, so she asked "Namesake?"

"This lovely mare," he announced with a smile at her, "is your horse."

"_My_ horse?"

"Karen…your mother, that is to say…would always talk about your fondness for horses. She used to tell me how you'd imagine yourself riding across these hills on the back of one."

Alice blushed delicately as she said, "Yeah…I used to think that I'd find my knight in shining armor here and that we'd ride away together."

"Well, Karen…I beg you pardon, but do you mind if I just call your mother Karen, miss?"

"Sure."

"Thank you. Karen would talk about your love of horses day in and day out. One day, I suddenly had an inspiration. I built this stable and-"

"_You_ built it?"

"Yes…during one of my summers. Anyway, I built up this stable, and then went and purchased three horses for her. Since I bought them, she insisted on my naming them. It took me a week to get all three names, but eventually I accomplished the task."

"And what are their names?"

Despite the fact that Alice couldn't look at him and flinched if he moved even the slightest muscle, Hayden continued to remain patient and kind, offering the white mare an apple and stroking her muzzle with gentle fingers. She watched his gentleness, a quality she never knew a male could possess, entranced by that calloused hand.

"The brown mare with the white stripe down her nose," he answered, pointing to the first horse closest to the door, "that one is Cassie. Poor thing can't stop sticking her nose in everything she finds, and it reminded me so much of Cassie's curiosity…back in the days when she still had it. The other brown mare, with the pure brown coat, was an athlete before she was sold to me. She was entered in jumping contests and ran a few good races, but didn't win so was not valuable to her previous owner. I named her Brooke."

"So because the white one was left, you named it Alice?" she concluded, stroking the mare's muzzle.

Hayden's fingers shyly reached out and touched her fingers, and she turned to look at him as he said, "Alice was the first horse I named." Alice drew her hand back rapidly, moving an imperceptible step away from him. He continued to explain his rationale behind the naming. "I always remembered you as the leader…as the beautiful and graceful one. The other mares follow this one without hesitation and without failure, and it has the most beautiful coat I've ever beheld…especially when it's clean like it is now. She was the first one I named, and that was when I began to notice that Cassie reminded me of her namesake, as did Brooke."

"What about the black one?" Alice asked after a moment. "That one over there?"

"Oh…that would be Hayden."

"You bought a horse and named it after yourself?"

"Karen insisted…gave me a whole ten pounds just so I'd buy it." Alice laughed…a little, and Hayden smiled, feeling accomplished. "She thought that it looked like me and resembled me. I'm not quite so convinced, but I didn't have the heart to argue…so I bought it." He caught the horse's bridle and pulled gently to bring its black muzzle close to his face. "What do you think, miss? Does the horse resemble me?"

His midnight black hair did blend in with the horse's silky black coat, and there was a steady awareness in the horse's eyes that mirrored Hayden's. Alice could easily see why her mother had insisted that it looked like him.

"What is Hayden like?" she asked, coming closer to stroke his black nose gently.

"He's quite the gentleman as far as horses go. Very sweet temperament, and extremely gentle. Timid perhaps to a point, but for the most part engagingly brave."

"And my mother thinks that's like your character?"

"I am one who would know least of what others think of me. Personally, I'm not exactly one to care. I am the way I wish to be, and the opinion of others cannot alter that."

Alice's gaze came shyly to Hayden's face. She was relieved to see that he was watching the horse and didn't notice her glance. Inside, her emotions were in turmoil. Everything that he had professed or accidentally exposed himself to be was exactly what she had always dreamed of finding all those dark, cold nights alone, feeling the abusive hands of the only people she had known the past six years of her life. Was it fate that it was Hayden who lived the closest to her?

"Would you like to ride, miss?" Hayden suddenly inquired, glancing at her. He watched as her gaze quickly went down. "Alice _is_ yours, and frankly the horses could use a stretch."

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what, miss?"

"_That_. Call me miss. I have a name. It's Alice."

"I didn't think you would like me to call you by your name."

"Why?"

To answer her, he brushed his fingers lightly across the back of her hand. She shuddered, flinched, and turned away from him, holding her hand to her chest. After a moment, she realized what she had done and what such actions had answered, and turned back to him, unable to look into his face.

"Now do you understand?" he asked after a moment.

"Call me Alice anyway," she said softly. "I would prefer it, even if…even if I don't look like I do."

Smiling, he said, "Alright, then, Alice…would you like me to take you riding?"

Alice wanted nothing more than to ride her horse that Hayden had bought for her mother and for Alice herself, though indirectly. She could never have guessed that such acts of kindness could come from a male. And yet riding alone with him sent shivers through her body as she contemplated being alone with a male, leaving herself open to his mercy. She had had enough dealings with the male sex to know that they could not be trusted and that they only caused pain, no matter how kind they appeared.

"Perhaps Brooke and Carrie could join us," he added when the silence had dragged for half a minute. "We could all four of us go riding together."

Relieved, Alice looked at him and said, "I would like that very much, thank you."

He began to make preparations for them to mount the animals. Alice eventually was directed to sit on a bale of hay so that he could saddle the horses, and she watched him as he worked, entranced. Each sinew of his body flexed and worked harmoniously together, making him seem graceful and born to the task. His lightly darkened skin gave him an intoxicatingly appealing luster that Alice never knew could exist. She could not deny that he was attractive, and that simply looking at him had her heart reacting, but she was terrified of this attraction. For all the beauty of his hard, defined muscles, or his stunning sapphire eyes, or even his lustrous black locks of hair, she was still afraid.

Hayden led the white mare Alice from her stall towards the girl Alice, giving the horse occasional pats on her shoulder so that the horse would know that he was there walking beside her. Alice stood and met them in the center of the stable.

"Well, climb on," Hayden encouraged.

Alice wasn't sure how to climb onto the horse, and so awkwardly grabbed onto the saddle and tried to pull herself up and over the horse. Hayden's warm fingers came to her arm to try and hoist her up, and Alice gave a small squeak of fright and let go of the horse, backing away.

"Forgive me," he said quickly, holding up his hands apologetically.

Alice calmed her heart before approaching the horse, and Hayden, once more.

"It's not your fault," she explained, unable to look at him. "After what happened, my sisters and I can't look or treat men the same anymore."

Hayden was quiet, watching her carefully, as if this was some vital clue. After a moment, he shook his head, realizing that he was supposed to be taking her riding.

"Well, you put your foot in the stirrup here. You see it? Excellent. Now, push yourself up and swing your leg over. Perfect. Now you are ready. I will help you lead Alice from my horse, but Brooke and Carrie will only follow yours, so you must be sure that if you are having any trouble to tell me so that I can help you. Understood?"

"Y-yes."

Alice never knew it would be so far from the ground once she was on the horse. It was nerve-wracking to see that Hayden, a very tall youth, only came to her knee. He leaned closer, careful not to touch her, to help her clutch the reins properly and to make sure that the saddle wouldn't move while she was riding.

Hayden fetched the black horse, letting Brooke and Carrie out from their stalls before he climbed onto Hayden's back. Alice liked how comfortable he looked on the horse, and how his tall frame seemed fit to be there on the back of that majestic and beautiful horse. He brought the horse over to Alice and clicked his tongue. The horse immediately began walking forward, and Alice laughed in delight as she was taken outside, Hayden at her side and Brooke and Carrie following as Hayden had promised, though he had a rope that was tied to their reigns just in case.

Alice looked over at Hayden, watching his frame with interest. He seemed born to be in that saddle, his face complacently looking out ahead of him. He glanced over at her to make sure she was doing alright, and smiled when he saw her gaze on him.

"Everything you imagined it would be?" he asked with a chuckle.

"No, it's a thousand times better," she admitted, feeling the horses strong limbs moving beneath her.

Hayden nodded, his gaze going back to the meadows and trees that surrounded them. Alice liked the red, orange, and yellow colors that the trees had taken on as fall swept through the England countryside, feeling like it instigated peace within her. She felt safe here…she felt at home here. For the first time in a long time, she could relax almost every part of her body and let herself live without fear.

Hayden gave another patterned whistle near her home, and Alice's horse came to a stop, also making Brooke and Cassie stop. Hayden had to pull on his own horse's reigns to get the animal to stop, which was the more traditional method. Nimbly jumping down from the black stallions back, he smoothed his shirt and brushed back his hair, glanced at the structure before them with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"You can wait here, or you can go get your sisters," he said after a moment. "Your choice."

"It would be better for them," she answered slowly, avoiding his eyes, "if _I_ went in and got them. They're afraid of men…remember?"

"Then I will wait here with the horses. If my mother is still there, would you be so kind as to inform her that I am taking you and your sisters riding for a time?"

Alice nodded, awkwardly trying to get off of her horse. Hayden stepped forward, as if to offer help, but then thought better of it, much to Alice's dismay; she appreciated that he was being considerate of her fear of him, but she really wanted him to help her down since she wasn't sure how. She struggled to swing her leg over the horse, and only resulted in falling out of the saddle altogether and towards the ground.

She gave a small cry of alarm and braced herself for the impact, but never reached the ground. Gasping, she looked over to see Hayden's face inches away from her own; he had run forward and had managed to catch her. They remained like that for a moment, Alice held closely to his muscled chest as they both tried to catch their breath and both of them staring into the others face. Then, coming to his senses, Hayden set Alice down and took several steps away from her.

"Forgive me," he murmured, catching his stallion's reigns.

"Um…t-thank you," Alice managed, before she quickly hurried towards the house.

As she ran inside and upstairs to find her sisters, she began to wonder why her face felt so warm and her heart was beating so rapidly against her chest when she recalled how Hayden's heavily muscled arms and chest had felt against her body and how his face being so close hadn't instigated fear and dark memories for the first time since returning.


End file.
